I don’t often wear eyeshadow, but I thought I would try and find a “greener” eyeshadow than the ones in my current makeup bag…

I purchased this Lidschatten Quattro (eyeshadow quad) in the colour Chocolate (#37) from dm’s own brand alverde Naturkosmetik.

I bought this a while ago and I have only just around to reviewing it unfortunately; I have only used a few times you see. I have since learned of the troubles surrounding the “less recommended” ingredient Talc; sadly this product contains it.

I always knew Talc was a cheap filler for powdered cosmetics but I didn’t think on it too much more than that. There are many sources that now say Talc can compared to asbestos in terms of the issues it in can cause to the respiratory system. If inhaled in large quantities, it has the potential to cause tumours in the lungs according to the Toxic Ingredient Glossary by the Green Beauty Team.

It is used in many, many cosmetics, even some of the big “organic/green/clean” brands!

I will definitely be avoiding it from now on if I can, but will continue to use this until I find a replacement. I will just not be breathing as I apply my eyeshadow haha! I have been on the lookout for a new clean foundation as that is one of the products I haven’t switched out yet, but now I know to avoid Talc.

I love a good chocolatey or smoky eye so I picked up this quad from the alverde range. They have a few other colour ways available but I thought this was the most diverse for day and nightwear.

I quite like the packaging, nice and clean and simple. It comes with one of those sponge applicators, but I tend to use a brush so I will leave it in there as a “just in case”, but will probably never use it.

The colours are not named so for the purpose of this review I will call them, from left the right: cream, mid-brown, bronze-brown, and dark brown.

This quad gives you three matte shade and one with a bit of a metallic glow (I wouldn’t call it a shimmer, it’s just kind of metal shiny). This is the bronze-brown and I really like it, it’s such a lovely colour; I hate shimmer but I think this is so pretty! (I don’t think it photographed very well unfortunately).

In terms of colour payoff, the two darker shades are very good, you only need to dab your brush in and get the tiniest amount. Tread lightly, I warn you. The creamy colour gives hardly anything at all (I had to swatch quite a large quantity to get it to look like this). The mid-brown is somewhere in between. Gives a bit of colour, but can be built up.

Above is a simple day look I created using them, I’m not much of a makeup artist, sorry! I started with the mid brown in the middle of my eyelid and built up and bit of the dark brown from the outside corner, I added a bit of the bronze-brown in with this as well. Finished off with the cream blended across from the inner corner of my eye to tone everything down and bit and blend everything together. (I also used the alverde Gel Liner here, and a combo of the alverde Nothing But Volume Mascara and the alverde False Lashes Mascara).

Above are a couple of pics from a night out a while ago. I was a bit more heavy handed on the application to darken/smoke it up a bit, but mainly followed the same steps as the day look photos. The left and top right pictures are from before I left, and the bottom left is when I got home (looking a little bit worse for wear!) The eyeshadow stood up pretty well though actually. There was a bit of creasing, but it was only really noticeable if you stood about six inches from my face and stared at me. ((I also used the alverde Gel Liner here, and a combo of the alverde Nothing But Volume Mascara, alverde False Lashes Mascara, and the Benecos Maximum Volume Mascara).

All in all, this is a pretty decent, budget product. For only €3.95 it’s a pretty good deal really. It is certified by Natrue, and this product is also Vegan. The Talc is a bit concerning, but I can live with it for now considering I don’t have a habit of sniffing eyeshadow, and I only wear it around once a month!

I am on the lookout for some talc free eyeshadow though, preferably in the budget range. I’ve heard good things about the Lily Lolo palette… Any other suggestions?

10 comments

Beautiful pics! I picked up a couple of the Alverde palettes when I was in Germany last time (unfortunately not this one though). These colors look stunning on you!

I am kind of confused about talc as well. So much so that I actually contacted DM/Alverde a few months ago because I was concerned about the talc they use in their lipsticks. I emailed them about the possibility of talc being contaminated with asbestos fibers and asked how they made sure that the talc in their products was safe. They emailed back right away saying that the talc they use was not a “health compromising rather a naturally occurring substance made by mining and later pulverizing magnesium silicate.” They went on to saying they are under strict guidelines of the Natrue certification to guarantee safety.

The EWG rates talc at a 3 out of 10. Think Dirty at a 7 out of 10. Not sure what to make of all this. I guess as always, moderation and balance is key!

You look so stunning (: !
I’m not too keen on talc either but it’s almost in every low budget product…but I don’t think that it is a big deal in eyeshadows. I avoid it completely in powder foundations, but in foundations that are mixed mit water/oils it’s safe as well, at least in terms of inhalation. But all in all I try to avoid it and buy rather expensive products like eyeshadows from Zuii for example. Lily Lolo is great as well (: .
What kind of foundation you’re looking for? I love my Lily Lolo mineral foundation or if you’re searching something liquidy: the alverde Pure Teint foundation is really nice (: .

Yes I need to try the alverde one! I’m pretty lazy and so I think I powder mineral foundation would be good for everyday. I bought a Lily Lolo mini that is floating around in my make up bag somewhere that I haven’t tried yet! Need to find it again! Benecos do a loose powder that I believe is talc free…? Have you tried this one? xx

Lily Lolo is gorgeous (: !
Yes, I’ve tried the benecos powder and like it. It’s mattifying (Lily Lolo gives a more “natural” finish) but the coverage is lighter than Lily Lolo or alverde Pure Teint for example.
And it’s talc free but contains silica, which could be problematic with inhalation as well but I believe they are using silica which isn’t respirable (because of bigger particles). But to be sure you could ask them (: .
I love it in summer when I used an oily sunscreen to mattify the skin. Hope I could help you (: .

Thank you for the info! I didn’t know about the silica! I do like the matte finish so I’ll have to see how the LIiy Lolo goes, it would probably be fine for me in the cooler months… I tend to get an even oilier T Zone when it warmer… Will have to try out the alverde Pure Teint too because I like to have something with better coverage for evenings and “bad skin days” haha! Again, thank you! xx